I read this Angry Arab post this morning and could not agree more:
Hichem Djait: Probably the most important and original scholar on Islam. I have been reading about the origins of the Great Fitnah in Islam. It is easy to discover that the best book there is on the subject is by the brilliant Tunisian [...]

I was asked a while back to contribute a guest post to Washington Post reporter Jack Fairweather’s blog “Islam’s Advance” (about “Islam influencing and adapting to the modern world”).
I ended up writing on a phenomenon that has interested me for a while, every since I read Patrick Haenni’s great book “L’Islam de Marché” [...]

This NYT piece on the relationship between Courageous Reformist Arab Personalities (CRAP) Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji seizes the non-relevance of these people to the problems of the Islamic world yet, admitting that, continues to find them enthralling.
First there is this paragraph:
Yet though they are allies on one level, their approaches to Islam [...]

I like Sameh Fawzy, a smart Coptic activist and researcher who has written at length about Islamist groups, the concept of citizenship, and many other issues. In his latest article for the Daily News Egypt he talks about Coptic attitudes towards the municipal elections, the problem with the clergy intervening on behalf of the regime [...]

I recently watched the new short film by the Dutch right-wing MP Geert Wilders, Fitna. It’s not like I was expecting anything but racist drivel, but I was particularly underwhelmed by this effort, which essentially consists of quotes of the Quran super-imposed with pictures of veiled women “taking over our streets” and much complaining of [...]

Hannah has a great post about a very coquette (and courageous) Shia Tikriti woman:

How on earth, I asked her, does a Shiite Tikriti living under control of the Mahdi Army get away with dressing as she does when these days even Christian women have begun to cover their hair to deflect attention?
K replied that she [...]

As part of a new series on youth and religion, the New York Times ran an article today on young people in Egypt. The article, by Michael Slackman, basically argues that economic and social frustration and the inability to get married at a young age has driven many to become more pious:

The despair [...]

al-Jazeera English ran some rare incisive coverage of Coptic issues in Egypt a few days ago, good questions from the interviewer (notably on the census and church-building) with interesting interventions by Michael Mounir, the prominent US-based Coptic activist. Also discussion of church-issues etc.

That was part 2, you can find part 1 here.

Needless to say, this is complete bull and an obvious and pathetic attempt by the barbaric Sudanese government to get another negotiating card as it heads into yet another round of talks on Darfur and the South. Memo to the Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh al-Azhar and the Muslim Brotherhood: now’s the time to speak up [...]

A few days ago, Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights published a report entitled “Prohibited Identities” about the discrimination of the Egyptian governments against those who either wish to identify as something other than the three “revealed” religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) or those who wish to change their religion from [...]

For a lazy Sunday:

Egypt’s Coptic Pope needs more time in hospital: church - Baba Shenouda continues to be seriously ill
The crescent and the cross - FT review destroys “Eurabia” books
What’s Behind the Reversal of Tunisia Hijab Ban? - A look at a recent court decision to reverse longstanding ban
When the bikini line turned to a [...]

A rather convenient fatwa:
CAIRO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Egypt’s highest authority on Islamic law said on Thursday that drivers cannot be blamed for killing people who stand in front of their vehicles, just days after a police van ran over a woman who tried to stop it.
Dar al-Iftaa, the government agency which issues around 1,000 [...]

Science and the Islamic world, an essay by a Pakistani scientist on the decline of science in the Islamic world in my favorite magazine (not really), Physics Today:
In the Islamic world, opposition to science in the public arena takes additional forms. Antiscience materials have an immense presence on the internet, with thousands of elaborately designed [...]

Muslim Brother Ibrahim al-Houdaiby has responded to Mona al-Tahawy’s critical column in the Forward on the group. In this pieces he distances himself from Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef’s remark that she appeared “naked” because she was unveiled — not the first time I hear Ibrahim condemn al-Houdaiby in favor of the person many see as [...]

Malaysian Islamic body rules on how to pray, wash and die in space:
“Conditions at the International Space Station which are so different from those on earth are not a hindrance for the astronaut to fulfil his obligations as a Muslim,” it said in a 20-page booklet.
“In difficult conditions, Islam has conveniences to ensure that religious [...]

Clerics Begin to Take Over:
“Our country has turned from a secular into a purely religious country,” Munthir Sulayman, social reform activist in Baghdad told IPS. “We were dreaming of a huge development in social affairs to become more modern and free, where individuals can play their natural role in developing the country through participation in [...]

IFEX : Appeal court fines prominent poet for insulting religious extremist:
The Southern Cairo court stipulated 8 August 2007 as the date for selling Hegazi’s home furniture in order to put into effect the court ruling, after Hegazi refused to pay the money, preferring his home furniture be sold.
This ruling, in an insult lawsuit brought forward [...]

Christian convert seeks recognition in Egypt:
CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian who converted from Islam to Christianity has launched a bid to have the change recognised officially in what is believed to be the first such case, he told AFP on Thursday.
Coptic rights group the Al-Kalima Centre brought the case on behalf of Mohammed Ahmed Higazi, [...]

Bush Plans Envoy To Islamic Nations:
President Bush announced plans yesterday to appoint an envoy to an organization of Islamic nations with the intention of improving the battered image of the United States in the Muslim world.
Speaking at the rededication of the half-century-old Islamic Center in Washington, Bush said the new U.S. representative to the 57-nation [...]